About 100 F-35 opponents protest Democrats

Group rallies outside Vt. Democratic Party BBQ

A group opposed to the F-35 military jet basing in Burlington for number of reasons including issues with noise, decided to forego letter writing Thursday night and instead party-crashed a political event.

Thursday's Vermont Democratic Party fundraiser barbeque is one of many to come this political season. The idea to make hamburgers and dough.

"The purpose was twofold: to raise money for the Party and to get people enthused about the upcoming elections," said Jake Perkinson, chairman of the Vermont Democratic Party.

Though Vermont is gearing up for a number of races this fall, it's especially important for the Party to focus on the big ones.

"Gov. (Peter) Shumlin is facing some opposition that is very well-funded, so we want to be prepared for that," said Perkinson.

But, party attendees may have been a little distracted by some special guests. About 100 F-35 protestors waved signs and sang songs across from the barbeque. Some hurled accusations at its hosts.

"This is a disgrace and something smells awfully rotten here," shouted one protestor into the microphone.

A number of F-35 opponents identify on the left and are upset that the some of the people they elected have spoken out in support of the new military jet. Now, many protestors said they don't plan to vote or donate to the Democrats.

"It's really significant that people are this angry, upset and opposed to the F-35, that they'll come out and protest people that they previously supported," said Paul Fleckenstein, one of the people who organized the rally.

Perkinson said the Vermont Democratic Party as a whole hasn't taken a stance on the planes. He hopes the protestors take that into consideration before hitting the polls.

"To say that you're not going to support a party because of one single issue is a tough thing to do because the Democratic Party stands for far more than this single issue," he said.

Both the Democrats and the F-35 opposition group plan to host many more events in support of their respective causes.

Meanwhile, the Air National Guard is starting to speak out, trying to ease community concern over basing the new F-35 fighter in Burlington. It's something they think could go either way.

"I'd sleep at night if I thought it was a done deal. I'm very nervous about the decision, very nervous," said Col. Dave Baczewski, a wing commander for VTANG.

The Guard said their current planes, the F-16's, are aging and that several hundred jobs are on the line if the F-35's aren't based here.

Officers said there is no evidence jet noise has hurt local property values and they promise if the F-35 comes here, they'll do everything possible to limit the impact of the added noise on those who live nearby.

"We're talking about six minutes a day, four days a week, during takeoff phase. There's things we can do here locally that's not included in the Draft Environmental Impact statement to help mitigate that further," said Brig. Gen Steven Cray.

The U.S. Air Force is set to make a decision about basing up to 24 new jets here around the end of the year.

The Air Guard is opening the base to the public on Friday, allowing Guard members to tell their story to anyone who stops by. It runs from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Photo identification is needed to enter.